Nashville, Tenessee

 

 

I never really intended ever on pursuing art or design as a career. I was always the kid that got in trouble for drawing in class, but never really thought about art school or as a career.  I am the only artist of sorts in my family, although it seems destined that I should be in art or design since my father's first name is Art, and my grandfather's middle name was Camera.

 

I graduated high school in 1998, and entered Belmont University in Nashville, TN with the intent of a business degree.  My sophomore year I decided to take a photography class to make myself get out of the business building and spend more time outside. I think I really was dying a slow death behind computers and accounting text books. It was so refreshing to not only be allowed to be creative, but being encouraged to do so. Within 2 days, I changed all my classes (right before the deadline) and changed my major to Design Communications. I was required to take Printmaking I for my BFA, which I strongly did not want to take (though to this day, I still really don't know why... I think I was still hooked on photo...) I decided that the fastest way to get thru it was to take it as a summer school course. It ended up that it was my favorite class of all, and I took 6 more print classes, making it my minor.

 

Growing up in Nashville, I had always seen the posters of Hatch Show Print all over town, but never really grasped the greatness of them until I started studying printmaking. It just so happened that my university had an ongoing internship program with Hatch. I applied my senior year, and was awarded the internship and accompanying scholarship for my studies and began in the fall of 2002.  Upon my graduation in May 2003, I was hired as a full-time designer, and my obsession has now morphed into a combination of printmaking and letterpress. I have been very fortunate to work in the amazing environment of Hatch. If you've never been there, you need to take a road trip to Nashville.  It is the letterpress Mecca.

 

I have been slowly collecting small batches of type and dingbats here and there over the past year, but the past summer I happened to stumble into an auction by a local high school that had once had a letterpress department, though it had been shoved in a closet for the past 30 years.  I was able to buy the type, a large galley, several composing sticks and two type cabinets. The type (roughly 40 different faces and all different sizes) was all dumped into a large trash bag. As of right now, my tiny little letterpress studio is housed in my grandmother's garage. Fortunately, she has a large garage, and a large amount of patience, as I am STILL sorting through that trash bag. I think she likes the company though.

 

I am about to acquire my very first press. It's a little C&P that has been painted fire engine red. (I'm so excited I can't see straight).  It needs new rollers and a little work, but I hope to have it up and running by the end of the year.

 

I am a recent newlywed as of August 14th, to a wonderful man named Russell that is very supportive of my letterpress habit. I know it's cheesy, but here's our wedding website - www.bethanyandrussell.com .  No children yet or in the very near future, but we have 4 very spoiled cats - Mischief, Miracle, Leonardo & DaVinci.